Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) ACEReSearch 2004 - Supporting Student Wellbeing: what does the research tell us about social and emotional 1997-2008 ACER Research Conference Archive development of young people? 2004 Supporting Student Wellbeing : What Does the Research Tell Us About the Social and Emotional Development of Young People? (Conference Proceedings) Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Follow this and additional works at: https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2004 Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons Recommended Citation Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), "Supporting Student Wellbeing : What Does the Research Tell Us About the Social and Emotional Development of Young People? (Conference Proceedings)" (2004). https://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2004/2 This Book is brought to you by the 1997-2008 ACER Research Conference Archive at ACEReSearch. It has been accepted for inclusion in 2004 - Supporting Student Wellbeing: what does the research tell us about social and emotional development of young people? by an authorized administrator of ACEReSearch. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RESEARCH CONFERENCE 2004 Supporting Student Wellbeing 24-26 OCTOBER, 2004 RADISSON PLAYFORD HOTEL,ADELAIDE, SOUTH AUSTRALIA What does the research tell us about the social and emotional development of young people? Conference Proceedings ConferenceConference ProceedingsProceedings Contents Foreword v Opening address 1 Geoff Masters Conceptualising and researching student wellbeing Keynote papers 7 Judith Harackiewicz 8 Optimal motivation in education: the importance of students’ goals and interests Michael Sawyer 13 The mental health and wellbeing of young people in Australia Brian Hill 17 Core values in the balance Michael Carr-Gregg 20 Rotten kids or clueless adults - Australian parenting on trial - what's happened to a developmental perspective? Concurrent papers 21 Michael Bernard 22 The relationship of young children’s social-emotional development to their achievement and social-emotional wellbeing Ramon Lewis 28 Helping teachers help students act responsibly Ken Rowe, Kathy Rowe, Jan Pollard 34 Literacy, behavior and auditory processing: Building ‘fences’ at the top of the ‘cliff’ in preference to ‘ambulance services’ at the bottom John Ainley 53 Individual and school influences on interdependence Chris Presland 59 The heart and soul of learning Concurrent papers continued John Toumbourou, M. Elizabeth Douglas, Alison Short 62 Family and school influences on healthy youth development: an examination of social interaction between parents within the early high school context Steven Marshall 66 Strengthening learning through a focus on wellbeing Peter Hamilton 71 Using evidence to drive system change to improve student wellbeing Ann Sanson, Diana Smart 72 Pathways to social and emotional wellbeing: Lessons from a 20 year longitudinal study Margaret Forster 80 Measuring the social outcomes of schooling: What does the ACER research tell us? Julie McMillan and Kylie Hillman 85 The emotional wellbeing of young people: school, further study, work and beyond Poster presentations 89 Conference program 95 Conference delegates 99 Research Conference 2004 Planning Committee Professor Geoff Masters CEO, Conference Convenor, ACER Dr John Ainley Deputy CEO and Research Director National and International Surveys, ACER Ms Marion Meiers Senior Research Fellow, ACER Ms Kerry-Anne Hoad Manager, Centre for Professional Learning, ACER © Australian Council for Educational Research 2004 19 Prospect Hill Road Camberwell VIC 3124 AUSTRALIA www.acer.edu.au ISBN 0-86431-755-7 Design and layout by Integral Graphics and Wendy McGregor Editing by Tony and Valina Rainer Sound Words. Printed by Print Impressions ForewordForeword v Foreword Research Conference 2004 is the ninth national Research Conference.Through our research conferences, ACER provides significant opportunities at the national level for reviewing current research-based knowledge in key areas of educational policy and practice. A primary goal of these conferences is to inform educational policy and practice. Research Conference 2004 brings together key researchers, policy makers and teachers from a broad range of educational contexts from around Australia and overseas.The conference addresses the theme ‘Supporting student wellbeing’. We are sure that the papers and discussions from this research conference will make a major contribution to the national and international literature and debate on student wellbeing. We welcome you to Research Conference 2004, and encourage you to engage in conversation with other participants, and to reflect on the research and its connections to policy and practice. Professor Geoff N Masters Chief Executive Officer, ACER Research Conference 2004 vi OpeningOpening addressaddress 1 Conceptualising and researching student wellbeing Schools have always seen it as part of attitudes (e.g. towards others and their role to support and encourage towards civic institutions) and values children’s all-round development, (such as tolerance, justice and fairness). including their cognitive, interpersonal, Various writers (e.g. Hettler, 1984) have social, aesthetic, physical, and identified aspects or ‘dimensions’ of moral/spiritual growth. Beyond the general wellbeing. It is common in the academic, schools have been literature to refer to ‘health’ and committed to children’s general ‘wellbeing’—usually distinguishing Geoff Masters ‘wellbeing’: in seeing children develop physical health from other aspects of into well-rounded, healthy individuals students’ wellbeing. For the purposes Australian Council for Educational Research who can take their place as informed, of this conference it is useful to identify principled and engaged members of five aspects of wellbeing. Geoff Masters is Chief Executive Officer of the society. In fulfilling this role, schools Australian Council for Educational Research have worked alongside and Figure 1 is intended to communicate that: (ACER). Professor Masters is an international authority in educational measurement and student complemented families, churches and • there are multiple aspects to general assessment and has published extensively in these other institutions in the community. ‘wellbeing’; fields. Early in his career he developed the widely- • these aspects work together as part used partial credit model for the statistical analysis In recent years Australian schools and of a balanced whole; and of rating scales and professional judgements. education systems have made efforts to Although much of his research has been focused clarify the broad purposes of schooling • a well-rounded individual will be on questions of validity and reliability in large-scale and to introduce ways of better growing/developing on all these fronts. tests and surveys, Professor Masters has a special evaluating success in achieving those interest in using developments in modern Although Figure 1 shows these five purposes. Statements of the intended measurement theory to construct improved tools aspects as separate dimensions, they are outcomes of schooling invariably for professional practitioners. in reality closely related. The emphasise not only the development of development of student wellbeing knowledge, skills and understandings, depends on growth in all these areas, as but also children’s social-emotional well as on their increasing integration development and the development of into a balanced whole: Figure 1 Five aspects of wellbeing EMOTIONAL SPIRITUAL MENTAL SOCIAL PHYSICAL Research Conference 2004 2 Wellness implies a lifestyle with a appropriately seen as a sample of Australian Temperament Project (ATP), sense of balance. This sense of research and/or thinking in one or a longitudinal study involving a large balance arises from a balance, or more of the five areas: a point of light in cohort of children in Victoria since their harmony, within each aspect or a constellation of ongoing research into infancy in 1983. In the study, the term ‘dimension’ of life… Realistically, all aspects of student wellbeing. resilience refers to good adjustment perfect harmony is almost impossible despite risk.They identified a group to achieve. However, the individual who had a high number of risk factors challenge is to seek this balance, Mental wellbeing at 11-12 years but did not become calmly and constantly; it is the state Michael Sawyer reviews the results of a which we continually move towards. antisocial, and compared them to a national survey conducted to identify group at equal risk but who were (Lowdon et al., 1995, 6) and understand mental health problems persistently antisocial, as well as a low- In his paper for this conference, Brian among Australian children and risk comparison group. Family factors Hill observes that the word ‘wellbeing’ adolescents, including Depressive (e.g. greater parental monitoring and connotes a state of wellness: that Disorder, Conduct Disorder and improving parent-adolescent ‘wellbeing’ could be interpreted as the Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity relationships), school experiences (e.g. absence of illness. In contrast, Figure 1 Disorder. This survey follows recent relationships with teachers and uses arrows to suggest that ongoing evidence of a decline in the mental perceived relevance of school) and growth and development are possible health of adolescents in Great Britain other aspects of